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Audit and feedback as a cost-effective strategy
1New York University-Cornell Medical Center, New York City 10021.
Insights
Rising medical care costs persist despite cost containment efforts. This study highlights a novel approach to healthcare cost management that proved successful in practice.
Area of Science:
- Healthcare Management
- Health Economics
Background:
- Medical care costs have escalated for over ten years, despite numerous cost containment strategies.
- Policymakers and third-party payers express significant concern regarding the continuous rise in healthcare expenditures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify key factors contributing to the ineffectiveness of traditional cost containment methods.
- To present a successful organizational approach to tackling healthcare cost concerns.
Main Methods:
- The authors, Robert Braham, M.D., and Hirsch Ruchlin, Ph.D., detail their organization's specific strategy.
- The approach focuses on a re-evaluation of how cost containment is implemented.
Main Results:
- The described organizational approach successfully addressed and managed healthcare cost concerns.
- The study implies that the methodology of cost containment is a critical determinant of success.
Conclusions:
- The way healthcare cost containment is approached is a crucial factor in its success.
- The authors' organization provides a model for effective healthcare cost management.
Abstract:
Despite more than a decade of cost containment initiatives, medical care costs continue to rise at levels that concern both policy makers and third-party payers. Various explanations can be offered for this apparent lack of success. A crucial factor in the opinion of the authors, Robert Braham, M.D., and Hirsch Ruchlin, Ph.D., is the way in which cost containment is approached. Braham and Ruchlin describe how their organization successfully tackled this concern.